Japan Consumer Prices Slide as Abe Vows to Spur Economic Growth

Japan’s consumer prices excluding fresh food fell 0.1 percent in November from a year earlier.

The number, released by the statistics bureau in Tokyo today, matched the median estimate of 27 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Shinzo Abe, the nation’s new prime minister, is vowing to pull the nation out of deflation and spur growth with more aggressive monetary easing and a 2 percent inflation target. Industrial production data due today will give the latest reading on the strength of an economy that contracted for the past two quarters.

Taro Aso, the new finance minister, says the Bank of Japan has been too slow in tackling deflation and a “large-scale budget” is needed to help make progress.

To contact the reporter on this story: Masahiro Hidaka in Tokyo at mhidaka@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Panckhurst at ppanckhurst@bloomberg.net